N.J. Family Experiences Second Tragic Loss as Daughter Is Killed by Crocodile
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A grieving New Jersey family barely recovering from the accidental death of one daughter four years ago, is asking how a second daughter could have been killed in a crocodile attack last month.
A New Jersey family still recovering from the accidental death of a daughter four years ago is now grieving for a second daughter who was killed in a crocodile attack last week.
Lauren Failla, 25, was attacked by a crocodile on April 29 while on vacation with her boyfriend off India’s Andaman Islands, authorities said.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University who was studying at Sotheby's Art Institute in London, Failla was snorkeling in the water off Radhanagar Beach when the crocodile attacked. Her boyfriend, who was videotaping the scene, caught the gruesome attack on camera. Failla's body, which was quickly taken away by the waves, was found on a neighboring beach the next day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The incident has prompted demands for the Andaman administration to have trained lifeguards on duty in tourist destinations like Radhanagar Beach, which is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world.
Michael Tran, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said roughly 24 crocodile attacks -- four of them fatal -- have been reported in the area over the last 25 years. Experts have arrived on the island to help catch the killer crocodile.
“Such an unnecessary death: if there had been proper warnings and statements that there are in fact man-eating crocodiles nearby, I am sure Lauren would not have risked swimming," Failla's cousin, Gloria McLean Hiratsuka, wrote to the Daily Record of New Jersey. "She thought she was safe. Her father made a point of saying she was not a big risk-taker, always a little reserved, all the more since her sister's untimely death four years ago."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Failla’s older sister, Emily, a 24-year-old teacher, fell to her death while rock-climbing in Washington state in July of 2006. A Family member said the young women's parents were still mourning their first daughter when Lauren died.
A memorial service was to be held for Lauren on Saturday, with a funeral to be held on May 15.
FoxNews.com's Meghan Baker and the Associated Press contributed to this report.